4 ms·

I didn't read it. I just took a wild guess that the post was desperately trying to convince someone (anyone) that Haskell was worth learning. Five years on, th

I didn't read it. I just took a wild guess that the post was desperately trying to convince someone (anyone) that Haskell was worth learning. Five years on, they posted it again, because maybe there's some new suckers out there.

shawnz 12y ago
How did you go from "never going to go mainstream" to "not worth learning"? First of all, you are right. Haskell is never going to become as common as C or Java, and I don't think anybody is claiming that it will. It is a language that is designed around theoretical concerns rather than being pragmatic. But that is exactly what makes it so valuable to learn.
- Pacabel 12y ago
  Realistically, I don't think that knowing Haskell really would benefit most programmers, especially those working on typical, everyday software systems. There are some relatively niche situations where it might be a good choice, but those are few and far between. We've seen the most useful and practical features offered by Haskell make their way into other more mainstream languages over the years. The more theoretical features haven't made this transition because they really aren't all that practical. At this point, most programmers would be better off learning more about security, cryptography, databases, networking and other everyday topics than they would be by learning about the more theoretical functionality offered by Haskell.
  - chongli 12y ago
    Realistically, I don't think that knowing Haskell really would benefit most programmers, especially those working on typical, everyday software systems. Just curious. How much Haskell/FP experience do you have?
    - Pacabel 12y ago
      A fair amount. I used ML and Haskell in the 1990s in an academic setting, and have since used Haskell, Erlang, and Scala at various times while in industry. And I've tried out a number of other functional languages out of interest, as well. Functional programming does offer some benefits, in some cases. I'm not suggesting that it doesn't. And while I don't think it'd be harmful to know Haskell, I'm not convinced that the benefit it would bring is necessarily worth the effort involved, especially for programmers who are already busy with work and other commitments.

shawnz 12y ago

How did you go from "never going to go mainstream" to "not worth learning"? First of all, you are right. Haskell is never going to become as common as C or Java, and I don't think anybody is claiming that it will. It is a language that is designed around theoretical concerns rather than being pragmatic. But that is exactly what makes it so valuable to learn.

Pacabel 12y ago
Realistically, I don't think that knowing Haskell really would benefit most programmers, especially those working on typical, everyday software systems. There are some relatively niche situations where it might be a good choice, but those are few and far between. We've seen the most useful and practical features offered by Haskell make their way into other more mainstream languages over the years. The more theoretical features haven't made this transition because they really aren't all that practical. At this point, most programmers would be better off learning more about security, cryptography, databases, networking and other everyday topics than they would be by learning about the more theoretical functionality offered by Haskell.
- chongli 12y ago
  Realistically, I don't think that knowing Haskell really would benefit most programmers, especially those working on typical, everyday software systems. Just curious. How much Haskell/FP experience do you have?
  - Pacabel 12y ago
    A fair amount. I used ML and Haskell in the 1990s in an academic setting, and have since used Haskell, Erlang, and Scala at various times while in industry. And I've tried out a number of other functional languages out of interest, as well. Functional programming does offer some benefits, in some cases. I'm not suggesting that it doesn't. And while I don't think it'd be harmful to know Haskell, I'm not convinced that the benefit it would bring is necessarily worth the effort involved, especially for programmers who are already busy with work and other commitments.